


My dad considered me a cross he had to bear

by cleyendecker



Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-25
Updated: 2014-01-25
Packaged: 2018-01-09 23:27:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1152085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cleyendecker/pseuds/cleyendecker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Howard and Maria have a fight</p>
            </blockquote>





	My dad considered me a cross he had to bear

Maria: When Tony was little, I used to make him cookies for an invention well-made.  
I can't do that anymore.  
Maria: I wonder if he'd accept my apology. I would certainly hope so. I hadn't meant to leave him on Christmas.  
Maria: I'd left him hanging. I told him we'd do something.  
Maria: Cookies, movies, something.  
Maria: I can't remember.

Howard: MARIA NO THIS ISN'T YOUR FAULT YOU KNOW IT'S MINE YOU KNOW THAT,

Maria: Tony was such a smart little boy. He /is/ such a smart little boy. I wish he'd see it.  
Maria: You know, took apart a toaster once.  
Maria: He beat himself up over not being able to put it back together.

Howard: IT WAS MY FAULT I PUSHED HIM.

Maria: I wish I could've helped.

Howard: I KNOW HE COULD HAVE DONE IT.  
Howard: I just wanted our son to be great. Not just good, but great. Was that so bad?

Maria: The way you pushed him? I'd say so. He was a child, Howard.  
Maria: He wasn't you.

Tony: STOP FIGHTING

Howard: But even children have to learn sooner or later Maria!

Maria: He was six!

Howard: He was brilliant even then! It wasn't just about the toaster. He could have put it back together, God knows he was smart enough to! But he got frustrated and shut down and even when you're six it's something you've got to learn sooner or later to never give up  
Howard: was that such a harsh lesson? WAS IT?

Tony: Stop yelling! Mom, please stop! He won't listen, he never listens please just stop

Howard: This was never about the fucking toaster, Tony!

Maria: How would you know? You were never around!

Howard: I was around enough! I was trying! I was doing my damnest to make sure you and Tony would be well-supported after I was gone!  
Howard: And what about all that 'oh you should have seen what Tony built today, Tony's woodshop teacher said this' What about all that shit I hear from you Maria!

Maria: Tony's brilliant, yes. But you pushed him until he couldn't go! You pushed him enough to make him want to quit, Howard! I never heard anything good ever come out of your mouth!  
Maria: "Try harder!" "Do better!"  
Maria: That's all I ever heard from you!  
Maria: You wonder why he is the way he is!

Tony: Both of you stop! It's my fault, it's all my fault, I know, dad just get away from mom and leave her alone! She never did anything to you, it's all because of me!

Howard: BECAUSE HE CAN DO BETTER! Don't you see how frustrating that is! Jesus Christ Maria the kid is smarter than me and he's fucking playing with army men in his room! He could be GREAT why won't you just let him?

Maria: He could be! But he grew up much too fast for his own good. He was an adult by the time he was fifteen! You wouldn't let him stop one minute to let him be a normal kid!

Howard: Tony, jesus christ wipe your face and calm down. Just try a little harder. Stark Men are made of iron.

Maria: That's exactly what I'm talking about.

Howard: The world is moving too fast for him to just be a 'normal kid'. Do you really want that for him, Maria? Do you? A normal kid with a normal family fucking wasting his potential and talent on some dead-end job for the rest of his life with too many mouths to feed? Do you really want that?  
Howard: I'm trying to focus on WHAT'S BEST FOR TONY'S FUTURE and with every step forward you come in and coddle him and it's two steps back!

Maria: Having a normal childhood won't make him some deadbeat!  
Maria: You know it, Howard, I know you do!

Howard: Yeah, well, have you seen the rest of my family, because MIT isn't exactly knocking down doors to let any of them in.

Maria: I don't coddle him, I protect him from you! From every negative thing he's ever gotten told when all he ever deserved was praise!

Howard: "Protect him from me" bullshit! Have I ever laid a fucking finger on him? Haven't I done nothing but develop his talents and push him to be better?

Maria: Tony is a /wreck/! Open your eyes, Howard! Better yet, put down the glass.  
Maria: How about that?

Howard: Excuse me? Do you have any idea, ANY IDEA AT ALL how hard I work for you and Tony?  
Howard: How many nights I've lost sleep, how many failed project, that goddamned Stark Expo on the horizon?  
Howard: ALL FOR YOU AND TONY. DON'T YOU EVER FORGET THAT.

Maria: I've lost sleep too! Drying Tony's tears and assuring him he wasn't a failure. Assuring him that daddy still loved him no matter what he said.  
Maria: And he still doesn't believe me.

Howard: AND I DO. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT. Parents will not always be there.  
Howard: Don't you dare assume that I don't love Tony.

Maria: I never said you didn't.  
Maria: But you need to show it.

Howard: What do you want me to do, Maria? Take him to fucking Disneyland? Take him to a movie? There are other ways of showing love, don't assume because I don't hug Tony every day that I don't love him.

Maria: I'm not asking you to do that! I'm asking you to pat him on the back now and again and "Good job, Tony!". Certainly wouldn't hurt you! Wouldn't hurt Tony, either! In fact, it might make him a little more motivated!  
Maria: You'd be surprised.

Howard: Why is this a big deal all of a sudden right now anyway, huh? Why RIGHT NOW are you suddenly "Oh poor precious Tony"? He's gotta grow up sooner or later, Maria, you can't keep coddling him!  
Howard: Jesus Maria, tell your son to stop crying.

Maria: Oh-- /My/ son?  
Maria: /My/ son?  
Maria: I think you're missing something. In case you haven't realized, he's your son too!

Howard: I wouldn't have guessed it from the way you've been treating him lately.

Maria: I guess at this point he's more my son than yours. Considering you treat him like a piece of defective equipment.

Howard: You're so protective over him! You can't bubble-wrap him up from the world and act like everything is okay when it isn't! You're the one treating him like he's made of glass.

Maria: Stark /men/ may be made of iron, but Tony is just a /boy/.  
Maria: Don't you dare have him hold up to that.  
Maria: The day he turns eighteen, fine.  
Maria: Now?  
Maria: Leave him alone.

Howard: Fine, you want me to leave him alone I'll do exactly that.  
Howard: He can fix the fucking toaster on his own.

**Author's Note:**

> delicious skype convo between me (Howard) and the incomparable Harley (Maria).


End file.
